By Emma Amaize
Romance that went sour just like the roundabout movement of two lizards around a palm tree, it is not straightforward, except for those that read between the lines, to decode the  candid grounds for the current political war in Delta state, which had witnessed the leader of one of the political kingdoms, the former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, running to Dubai, some months ago, like a refugee, and his anointed heir, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, removed as governor, a little over a week ago, precisely November 9,  by a Court of Appeal.

The bombshells that had been emitting from both political houses in the past three and half years would have come as a shocker to political observers who saw the chummy father-son relationship between the former Federal Minister of Information and Ijaw national leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark and Chief Ibori since 1999, climaxing in the no-holds-barred defense of Ibori in the controversial ex-convict saga by Clark.

A story was told of how  some Delta leaders were invited to Abuja before the 1999 election in the name of the former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha and Ibori was introduced to them by an influential Abacha aide, as the one who had been anointed to become the next governor of the state.  They were told to go home and work for his election.

Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark and Chief James Ibori

According to the account, Ibori came back home later to meet with Chief Clark and other leaders and they took him round the state on campaign for his candidature.  That was how the warm relationship between the twosome started and Ibori paid him homage as a political father. So, it was not strange to see Chief Clark then defending Ibori when he was accused of being an ex-convict.

He played the role of a godfather by mediating between him (Ibori) and his major accusers, Engr. Goodnews Agbi and others.

However, things fell apart in the tail end of 2006 and early 2007 when ‘political father’ accused ‘political son’ of not consulting leaders of the state before “anointing” Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, then Secretary to the State Government as his successor. The impudence of it all to the elder statesman is that he picked his cousin, which is why up till date; he refers to their ruler_ship as Ibori/Uduaghan dynasty.

Uduaghan as a victim
Chief Clark had at various times in the past stated clearly that he had no personal grudges against Dr. Uduaghan and was not against an Itsekiri man becoming the governor of the state, but that governor should not be Dr. Uduaghan because of his blood relationship with Ibori.

The emergence of Uduaghan first as the gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in 2007, thus, marked the beginning of the political spat between Clark and Ibori.  Uduaghan’s subsequent election as governor only exacerbated it. It did not matter to the elder statesman whether there was a PDP gubernatorial primary in which Uduaghan defeated others to clinch the ticket. To him, everything was manipulated by Ibori to favour his brother.

To spite Ibori who saw himself as the new political kingmaker after ruling the state for eight years, Chief Clark dug out the skeletons in his cupboard and by the time he ended his rummage, his paper was full of Ibori’s alleged corrupt deals, which he handed over to the EFCC. If the  hair-raising details  coming out of the current London trial of some Ibori’s accomplices on the supposed looting of the state by him during his tenure are anything to go by, then Ibori stole more that the owner would know, but, it  must be stated unequivocally that he has not been found guilty thus far.

So, the entire drama still remains at the level of accusation until he is convicted or discharged. But even if Ibori is accused of being a devil incarnate in his service to the state, accusation of non-performance will not stick for the roads and bridges across the state attest to his accomplishments.

Many, however, believe that if not for Ibori’s legal battles, he would have given Clark the fight of his life,  but because no man stays behind when his roof is on fire, he  had to flee from the country .

Misreading Ibori
For Ibori, his current nemesis can be likened to an adage, which says, “A native doctor that causes rain should not fear the thunderstorm that follows”. Ibori actually caused political rain in the state during his tenure, but whether he prepared adequately for the thunderstorm that followed is not yet clear.  However, what some people appear to have under-looked is the fact that it would have been an act of political naivety if Ibori failed to make any plan for his successor after ruling the state for eight years.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo chose his successor in the person of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and worked for his election. He was also involved in the picking of the current President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Yar’Adua’s deputy. Former governor of Lagos State, Chief Bola Tinubu anointed his successor, Governor Tunde Fashola.

It has always been like that in politics, fathers also anoint their children just as the patriarch of the Saraki family, Olusola Saraki anointed his son, Governor Bukola Saraki, currently as presidential aspirant to rule Kwara, the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion with the assistance of his friends, former chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih and two-time governor of the defunct Bendel state, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia made his son, Chief Lucky Igbinedion governor of Edo state for two terms.

Chief Clark also used his power to make Elder Godsday Orubebe a minister in the Federal Republic despite the strings pulled from behind by Ibori before he fled the country. It is also through Clark’s influence that Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, though qualified by all standards for the job, is the Minister of State for Education today.

One of Clark’s sons is gunning for the House of Representatives seat in the Burutu Federal Constituency in 2011 and no doubt, his father has anointed him for the office. If the late Yar’Adua was alive to complete his tenure, he would definitely want to pick his successor. That is the way wheel of politics rotate”.

Inside Clark’s realm
Chief Clark is a well respected South_South leader, a former Minister of Information and  Senator of the Federal Republic,  but he did not have the kind of cult-like political followership he has today in the state  until 2007 when he took on Ibori for  allegedly looting the state’s treasury and installing Dr. Uduaghan as governor.

A lot of people believe in his leadership and outspoken position on issues and even though some people were disenchanted with Ibori, their voices were not strong enough to draw the kind of attention that Clark drew when he started the war.

The group is composed of Deltans, some of who believed that as stakeholders, the Ibori empire should not be allowed to dominate the state and latter_day disciples whose presence in the forum is because Uduaghan did not allegedly carry them along in his government.

Chief Clark used to be the state leader of the DELSF, but has grown to become a senior national figure, so the state leader at the moment is Chief Godwin Ogbetuo, who is as unsparing as Clark in his criticism of Ibori and Uduaghan.

The group boasts in its ranks such distinguished Deltans as Minister of Niger_Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, and Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, Senator Francis Okposo, Mr. Eddy Akangbou, Dr, Brown Adasen, Dr. Richard Tosanwumi, Donald Ugboaja, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police and others.

Presently, the November 9 nullification of Dr. Udaughan’s election as governor of the state has thrown up Chief Great Ogboru as the beautiful bride once again, but unlike in 2007 when it was accepted that Uduaghan must not be allowed to rule the state by all means necessary, some members of the group  from the Delta south senatorial district are questioning why Ogboru, who is from the Delta central senatorial district like Ibori should not wait for the Delta south to rule for eight years as the central did under Ibori,  so that power would move to the Delta north senatorial district in 2015 before coming back to the central again  in 2023.

Investigations by Vanguard showed that when the DELSF started, Clark was the figure head, but it had no designed organ. About a year and half ago, it was decided that some a communication directorate be put in place. A former Commissioner for Health in the defunct Bendel State headed the directorate with Mr. Eddy Akangbou as his deputy and one Abugu as the public relations officer.

The directorate transmuted to a six_man Central Working Committee with Dr. Tosanwumi still the chairman, Col Eboma (rtd) and others as members.

The forum was hit by crisis and the Tosanwumi CWC gave way to another CWC, headed by Chief Ogbetuo. Also, a group in the forum, led by Chief Ideh inaugurated the Delta Central Elders Forum. At this stage, Clark became a national leader of the forum, while Ogbetuo is in-charge of the state leadership.

Members of the forum managed to live like cat and mouse in one house until the issue of 2011 came. It is a contentious matter. Chief Clark set up a 13_man committee to interact with the governorship aspirants with four members drawn from each senatorial district and Chief Ideh as chairman.

The committee ran into a crisis and was dissolved.
The forum’s attempt to take over the leadership of PDP in the state has been ineffective on ground. Chief Peter Nwaoboshi still remains the chairman of PDP. Sometime ago, Colonel Onyekweli  (rtd) was made the state chairman of the forum’s parallel PDP, the executive could not fly and Col Eboma (rtd) was also appointed as state chairman of the Clark faction of PDP, the executive is not known beyond the perimeters of the forum.

The national leader took up the task of screening the aspirants by himself and works with Chief Ogbetuo’s CWC in taking certain decisions since Chief Ideh is regarded by some as Alliance for Democracy, AD member. At best, the DELSF is a loose body of members, but certainly not with a well_organized structure.

Tussle within
Clark’s bourgeoning empire also had its own ripples with the inflexible posture of the Ijaw leader and irreconcilables towards Uduaghan despite the former governor’s self_effacing disposition and trouble-shooting missions to him. Senator Fred Brume in whose residence the DELSF adopted Chief Great Ogboru as a consensus gubernatorial candidate in 2007 renounced the forum in 2010 on account of the perceived biased mind-set of Clark and other leaders to Uduaghan even after the ex-governor had begged for forgiveness for a ‘sin’ he did not commit.

The former chairman of the Senate Committee on the Niger-Delta said it was not a transgression for Uduaghan to be Ibori’s cousin.